Freedom of information laws are being misused to harass scientists and should be re-examined by the government, according to the president of the Royal Society.

Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse told the Guardian that some climate scientists were being targeted by organised campaigns of requests for data and other research materials, aimed at intimidating them and slowing down research. He said the behaviour was turning freedom of information laws into a way to intimidate some scientists.

Obviously, the other answer, that people want to know what the hell these so-called climate scientists are actually doing, what the raw data looks like, what they are doing with the data, how they are coming to conclusions, etc and so on, is would be silly.

Nurse’s comments follow the launch of a major Royal Society study into how scientists’ work can be made more open and better used to inform policy in society. The review – expected to be published next year – will examine ways of improving access to scientific data and research papers and how “digital media offer a powerful means for the public to interrogate, question and re-analyse scientific priorities, evidence and conclusions”.

Especially when the “scientists’ work” is government funded.

“I have been told of some researchers who are getting lots of requests for, among other things, all drafts of scientific papers prior to their publication in journals, with annotations, explaining why changes were made between successive versions. If it is true, it will consume a huge amount of time. And it’s intimidating.”

How horrible! The taxpayers want to know what their money is paying for. Perhaps if said “climate scientists” had been open from the start, didn’t try to hide their data and research methods, this wouldn’t be a problem. Also, if they didn’t evidently have an agenda and a clear bias, people wouldn’t need to question what they are doing.

I have a solution to this, though: the “climate scientists” can pay for all the research themselves, and not operate with government money on government property. They can go out and work in the private sector. Then they wouldn’t have to deal with pesky people making FOIA requests.

Nurse said the government should examine the issue, and think about tweaking freedom of information legislation to recognise potential misuse.

And there we go, the ideals of freedom, transparency, and openness go right out the window when they become inconvenient to the progressives.

6 Responses to “Know What “Climate Scientists” Hate? Having To Show Their Work”

Haven’t you heard Teach, den says that 98% of all the scientists in the WORLD agree with him, man made global warming is a fact. They can all stop trying to show their work, they can all rest on the phrase: “the science is in” without having to prove a thing now. It’s all good, and think how nice it will be when we’re a thrid world country…

It should be noted that the FOIA that is being discussed is in England, and not the US.

The US law has some of the exemptions that the guy is complaining about. For example, if I am a scientist and write my wife an email on going to dinner, that has no bearing on anything and should not be subject to any FOIA requests. In England, the request for the email would have to be honored. In the US, it would not.

Nurse is right about that and if such requests are being made, they need to be outlawed.

On the rest of the requests, anything that is job related or grant related and is neither proprietary nor would place someone at a competitive disadvantage should be fair game.

The Republican attorney general and state Delegate Robert G. Marshall have battled the university for more than a year over the release of documents related to the work of former professor Michael Mann. Mr. Mann had been involved in a leaked email exchange with colleagues that climate-change skeptics claimed showed scientific misconduct.

Mr. Marshall, Prince William Republican, requested the documents through the Freedom of Information Act, while Mr. Cuccinelli subpoenaed them. Mr. Cuccinelli said an order issued Tuesday in Prince William County Circuit Court that grants Mr. Marshall’s request could affect his own appeal to the state Supreme Court to reverse a previous ruling in favor of the university.http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/25/ruling-alters-climate-papers-fight/

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